Team wins add up in new era Western Conference
The Suns come out of the gate hot once again and have the league’s 5th best record after the first full month of the season in January at 12-6.
It is clear that the Suns may be a clear beneficiary in a Western Conference that has changed landscape after the Jazz take a step back trading Rudy Gobert to the Celtics, the Rockets implode when Harden and Westbrook start feuding, and the Thunder rebuild, letting Gallinari walk in free agency and trading Chris Paul to the Miami Heat.
The Blazers also retool, trading CJ McCollum to the Nets.
The Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets still lead the conference, but the next era of Western Conference basketball is taking shape as the Suns, Mavericks and Pelicans and their young superstars move their way up the NBA pecking order. The Grizzlies lose a couple of their veteran pieces and Jaren Jackson Jr. deals with injuries as they take a slight step back.
The Warriors return to post-season contention, but Klay Thompson struggles a bit in his recovery from a torn ACL and Draymond Green misses most of the season.
After a slight lull in the middle of the season, as the Suns deal with injuries to Rubio and Bridges and general fatigue, they find their stride over the last month and a half of the season and finish with the 4th best record in the western conference at 52-30.
Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe call the Suns the league pass team of the year as Devin Booker has a few 50+ point games and Obi Toppin looks like a young A’mare at times.
Toppin and Oubre make the Sportscenter Top 10 often with their posterizations.
Monty Williams wins NBA Coach of the Year.
Animated caricature “Valley Boyz” t-shirts in the early 90s style start selling like crazy as Suns fever has engulfed the state of Arizona once again.